Workshops and other adventures

You know what they say: April workshops bring May flowers. Something like that.

Carlo's "theater of operations"

This April I attended a floral painting workshop with Carlo Russo. The weather was pretty cold and miserable for April in Virginia, but the attendees were warm and friendly and the flowers were gorgeous. The class was held in Deb Keirce's home which she transforms into a workshop studio space for 8 - 10 artists. Deb hosts well-known, master artists' workshops throughout the year. I was drawn to Carlo Russo's class because his paintings are so beautiful.

For Carlo's demo he painted ranunculus which are pretty complex with their tightly layered petals. His process is to start with a loose wash to establish the composition.

painting demo by Carlo Russo

For four days we enjoyed a morning demo, hours of painting and constant discussion about all aspects of art.
 
Below is my set up and progress shots from the workshop. Carlo's wash was tidier, but mine still provided the "road map" needed to establish my composition. I had brought a silver creamer knowing I would paint blooms before they wilted and could finish the container at home, which I did.

 

Here's the final Rosy Nosegay -

Rosy Nosegay ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

 

Flowers are sweet and tender - and tough to paint! The petals are translucent and delicate and, of course, they wilt. To gain a more practiced eye navigating these overlapping forms, I've been doing floral paintings since the workshop. These and a few others will be available at Who's Cooking in Croton Falls this month. To celebrate Spring ...if it ever gets here.

In other Spring news, I'm pleased to say that my painting Téte à Téte à Tootsies was awarded fourth place in American Women Artists 2017 Online juried exhibit.

©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

It was especially gratifying because the body of work for this show is so impressive! I am truly honored to be among such a fine group of artists. Also so thankful for the generous prize package from Gamblin Oils, Blick Art Supplies, Jack Richardson and AWA - Christmas in April! Here is a link to the award winners.

Trying new things

I truly believe that personal growth requires trying new things and getting outside of your comfort zone (except for sky diving, mountain climbing, roller coasters... high stuff: gotta draw the line). Workshops can feel like a daunting venture if the subject or technique is unfamiliar. It's so worth it. Spending several days with a group of folks focused only on art is an enriching immersion experience. And such a gift to oneself. Just to make sure "I'm worth it" I keep working at it when I get home. Floral paintings - I'm starting to feel more comfortable with them.

Locally, Todd Casey has a workshop coming up in Somers, May 20 & 21. Todd is a master at painting and teaching. He always has so much information to share. If you are interested, details are  here. Check in with him soon because space is limited.
This is an example of Todd's classical process.

©2017 Todd M. Casey

For my next new art adventure... I will be spending the month of June as Artist in Residence at Weir Farm in Wilton, CT.

Just me and my paint brushes. 

My plan is to work on interior scenes from Weir Farm. This National Park and historic site was the home of American Impressionist Julian Alden Weir and it's the only National Park dedicated to American painting. Imagine that! I'm used to painting nearly every day, but this will be truly focused time. Kind of a solitary, private workshop. I promise you'll be hearing more about it come June.

Meanwhile, enjoy the weather and go do something that enriches your soul ...or tickles your fancy.

Thanks for joining me on my art journey.

News and New Work

The "quiet" winter months are nearly behind us, but I'm pleased to say it's been fairly active art-wise thanks to shows at Salmagundi Club, auctions and online sales. Several paintings have found new homes including the original study for Who Knows Where the Time Goes, as well as the larger commissioned painting, and Munchkin Spoonful.

study ©2016 Dorothy Lorenze

Munchkin Spoonful ©2015 Dorothy Lorenze

Two earlier paintings sold at a silent auction benefiting the Taghkanic Chorale. It's always exciting to see the bids go up, but kind of worrying until it starts! These paintings were from a series focused on figuring out how-the-heck to paint glass!

Two new paintings are currently in the member show at Kent Art Association. To see that show, take a ride up Route 7 to lovely Kent CT now through April 16th. It's a quaint town with cafés and antique stores - and art! The paintings on exhibit at Kent Art Gallery are: East Meets West and Table & Stairs.

East Meets West ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

Table & Stairs ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

Next up is the elegant Appetite for Art cocktail reception this weekend. It benefits the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem and is such a nice event with artwork of all genres. There were many sales last year. My pieces are the interior and still life, below. Interestingly, I submitted four paintings and the two works chosen were both painted in the same Victorian home in San Francisco. Both presented interesting challenges - the wallpaper and carpet in the interior and another exploration of light and reflection in glass. Wish me luck.

Sitting Pretty ©2015 Dorothy Lorenze

Green Glass Glows ©2015 Dorothy Lorenze

The most exciting news is an upcoming floral workshop with Carlo Russo in Virginia in early April. Flowers are tough! Carlo is a masterful painter and I look forward to learning how to approach this complex subject. I've painted very few flowers because the structure of most blooms is hard to discern and simplify so this should be interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to show some flower paintings very soon. Keep an eye out. After all, spring is supposedly here!

Thanks for reading!

Fooling the Eye with Paint

I've been fascinated by trompe l'oeil paintings forever. The fire was fueled during a workshop at the John F. Peto Studio Museum and I finally decided to try my hand at a composition typical of this genre. "Trompe l'oeil" literally means "fool the eye" and the idea is to create a three dimensional effect with objects that are arranged in a shallow depth of field. Overlapping elements and careful attention to shadows help create the illusion. It can also be a play on reality vs illusion. But not in my composition. Reality is hard enough!

Old Souvenirs ©1881 John F. Peto

Here's an example of Peto's work, Old Souvenirs, 1881, which hangs at the Met Museum.

A classic trope of trompe is the letter rack. These paintings feature an early version of a bulletin board where ribbons or leather straps secure items. Often there was political commentary or some other personal agenda hidden within the objects. The example below is by Edward Collier and was painted in 1696! I love fragile edges of old, browning paper, so this is right up my alley.

Trompe L'Oeil Letter Rack ©1696 Edward Collier

To make the "rack" I used the top of a wooden wine box, found leather strips found on Etsy and secured them with tiny copper nails from our local, old-school hardware store.

creating a letter rack

Below left is the letter rack set up with a variety of vintage papers, assorted writing materials and office supplies. At right is the first pass of color over most of the canvas.

Set up and early work in progress

I've been asked how long it takes to do a painting so I'm trying to pay attention to my studio time. The initial set up (deciding on elements and composition), original drawing, transfer to canvas and beginning to lay down color took the better part of one day.

The following day the first pass of color was completed and some details of objects were added.

Then I left town for a few days. But that's OK because I got hugs from this sweet chickadee. Heavenly.

So...
back home and back in the studio, I worked for three days, probably 4-6 hours a day and I thought it was done.

Sometimes painting is like baking bread. You just have to let it "rest".

A few days later, I realized it wasn't quite finished. The diagonal shadow in the lower left wasn't clear. Some of the small cast shadows needed to be refined to help describe objects. Finally, I signed a scrap of paper, tacked it lower left, and painted the signature. It added to the composition - and was just plain fun to do!

This 12 x 16" painting took about 6 days to complete, which seems pretty quick for such detail (the folded pink and yellow papers below center are receipts - they actually have rule lines and invoice numbers!)

Noteworthy ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze, 12 x 16" oil on linen

The key is starting with a thorough drawing. And X-ray vision might have helped. But lacking that, it was important to check that all the edges of the papers were aligned, creating rectangles rather than trapezoids, overlapping corners that were hidden because the angles are accurate. So the challenge is to use comparative measuring to create realistic details while keeping a sense of artistry and poetry overall.

I don't know if I totally achieved the realism/poetry balance on this one but I really enjoyed trying and plan to do more. Possibly with specific themes ...or hidden meanings?! We shall see. Stay tuned, and let me know what you think.

Thanks for joining me on my art journey.